More than 70 international officers gathered Friday for the 17th annual Know Your World event. This year, 33 countries were represented. Each culture was showcased with food, music, pictures and language, as part of the International Military Student Office sponsored event.

Amanda Koren, field studies program manager, said this event is impressive. “Here we are in the middle of Missouri and we have the entire world here,” she said.

The students come to Fort Leonard Wood for the Basic Officer Leader Course and Captains Career Course. Their jobs include engineer, chemical and military police.

Know Your World participants from Jordan serve refreshments to community members Friday at Nutter Field House.

Charlie Rogers, IMSO supervisor, has been working with international military officers for the past 45 years. He has watched this event grow at Fort Leonard Wood over the past 17 years. At his first Know Your World event there were only five countries represented.

“I have experienced a lot of great things with this program,” Rogers said. “It has been great to see this event grow in popularity as much as it has.”

Capt. Ivan Bondzic of the Serbian armed forces will spend about six months at Fort Leonard Wood while he completes the Military Police Captains Career Course. He said he has enjoyed being here.

“It is a nice opportunity to share a common understanding of each other,” Bondzic said about having the chance to participate in the event.

Among the many presentations, Saudi Arabia presented a booth full of food, balloons, traditional dress and a station for guests to have their name written in Arabic. The Philippines had plenty of coconut rolls, fried rice and pancit on hand to serve. Greece also brought some traditional food as well as a history lesson for guests. Other countries represented include Singapore, Latvia, Romania, South Korea, Malta, Chad and Pakistan.

Koren said the event was also designed to highlight the IMSO’s Friendship Ambassador program. This program gives community members the opportunity to host international military students and treat them to the American experience. This can be a learning experience for all involved.

“There is so much more to the world outside of our little area here. We have so much of the world here,” Koren said.

For more information on the Friendship Ambassador program contact Koren at 573.563.8015, or email
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This event will give parents the opportunity to have their children’s car seats checked by certified inspectors for proper installation.

According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control, 90 percent of car seats are installed in vehicles incorrectly.

Courtesy photo

“It is very disappointing to read about such statistics since many of these fatalities are preventable. Taking the extra 60 seconds to ensure you and your passengers are properly restrained is all it takes,” said Kevin Curtis, assistant fire chief. “We all want our Fort Leonard Wood community children to travel safely in cars.”

The installation fire department has inspectors and technicians who are certified by the Safe Kids Worldwide. According to Curtis, the CDC statistic also holds up locally, but he hopes to see those statistics trend downward through education and events such as this.

Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the United States, but many of these deaths can be prevented, he added.

“In the United States, 663 children, ages 12 years and younger, died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes during 2015, and more than 121,350 were injured in 2014. One CDC study found that, in one year, more than 618,000 children ages 0 to 12 rode in vehicles without the use of a child safety seat or booster seat or a seat belt at least some of the time. Of the children ages 12 years and younger who died in a crash in 2015 (for which restraint use was known), 35 percent were not buckled up,” Curtis said. Curtis said it is important to promote best practices for restraint safety, such as going to the max height/weight limits before transitioning to the next restraint.

Thanks to ever-changing laws and education, Curtis said, overall, motor vehicle injuries and fatalities are going down and it’s a trend he hopes events such as this help extend.

For more information about the event or car seat safety, contact the Fort Leonard Wood Fire Department at 573.596.0886.

By Derek GeanAssistant editor
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The Fort Leonard Wood Religious Support Office’s Wednesday Night Live Program is scheduled to kick off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Main Post Chapel.

The program, scheduled for Wednesdays through Nov. 15, is designed to provide community members with opportunities for religious education.

“We have classes for everyone 5 years and older,” said Cindy Dack, director of religious education.

The program kicks of each week with a shared meal.

“Every week the chapel will provide a main course, a fresh green salad, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and milk or water to drink,” Dack said. Organizers will provide a meal calendar and some weeks, participants are requested to bring supplemental foods such as desserts or side dishes.

Families will eat together prior to breaking off for classes.

“Also, keep in mind that in our community, we will have Soldiers join us that don’t have the ability to cook, so throw a little more in the pot for our brothers and sisters,” Dack said.

Some of the available class titles are: Who Needs God?, Men’s Bible Study, Financial Peace University, Recovering Redemption, That the World May Know and a Study of the Great Reformation.

Teenagers will be taken through the “Jesus Movies” and children ages 5 to 12 will go through “Warrior For Christ,” and middle schoolers will be led by David McKay.

Childcare will be available for those 5 years and younger.

For those needing childcare, contact Dack at 573.596.0089 to register.

Dack requests that those coming to dinner, particularly during the first session, email her at cindy.t.dack.civ.mil, so the chapel will know how much food to prepare.

By Friday afternoon of any given week, I am so exhausted that my mind barely operates.

A fast operations tempo is typical in the battle rhythm of any Army chaplain. As chaplains, we pour ourselves out like a drink offering in the Old Testament, self sacrificially to meet the spiritual, emotional and religious needs of the Soldiers and civilians in our commander’s ranks, often times at the expense of our own well-being.

Davenport

When this happens, of course, one’s spouse is the first to notice. My wife is good at reminding me to “scale things back” as she likes to say. I am one to go 100 miles an hour until I crash trying to hit targets with suspenses weeks down the road. This is an unsustainable pattern that is neither helpful nor healthy for any Soldier.

That is why Labor Day reminds me of what the Lord Jesus Christ did in the Gospel of Luke at times when his ministry was bombarded with a barrage of obstacles:

“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12 NASB).

Long story short, Jesus rested.

He knew his limits and the susceptibility of human frailty. Jesus mastered the art of “scaling things back.” He retreated momentarily to spiritually refuel and bask in the glory of God through prayer and supplication.

Every Soldier needs a Shabbat, Hebrew for “rest.” Our commanders expect us to get done what we can get done today, for tomorrow has enough worries of its own.

Spouses and children need emotional and physical presence from their Soldiers. As Soldiers, it benefits us to find that balance life requires of us.

Remember, if Jesus was prudent enough to “scale things back,” we should be as well.

Brig. Gen. Donna Martin, U.S. Army Military Police School commandant, is introduced on the field at Busch Stadium with Command Sgt. Maj. Jon Stanley, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood command sergeant major; Maj. Gen. Kurt Ryan, commanding general of the Military Surface Deployment and distribution Command at Scott Air Force Base; and U.S. Army retired Lt. Gen. Patricia McQuistion, Association of the United States Army senior director; during the St. Louis Cardinals Military Appreciation Day pre-game ceremony.